Saturday, November 22, 2008

new devilry!

Meet Bitty Demon! (So named because of the Pleasant Company Bitty Baby dolls.) My mom does that hobbit thing where you give other people presents on your birthday, so since it was my birthday last week, I made her up this little guy. (We jointly watch two television shows involving demons, so this isn't as random a choice as it seems! The same goes for the windchime and slice of pie he's clutching in his tiny claws. It was so much fun to make something this totally custom and weird. And I am now in like, 300% more awe of people who make gorgeous mini-food from polymer clay. That pie slice was difficult.)

I was initially inspired by this crocheted devil by SandysDandies on etsy. I used the Amigurumi World book by Ana Paula Rimoli for the head shape (although I probably shouldn't have tried to play with the increases, because I ended up with the weird lego-head shape you see here...), and made a bunch of polymer clay pieces---his horns, talons, and accessories.

I couldn't find anything in the book that fit the shape I wanted for the body, so I consulted The Internet. This animal pattern list was the most helpful thing ever. I poked around in the patterns until I found these adorable octopi, which were about the shape I wanted, except a little too fat on top, so I messed with the increases, which worked better on the body than it did on the head. For the wings, I used this bat pattern, but stopped at row five, since they looked big enough and I thought the shape was cute. For the tail, I worked the tentacle from this squid until I was satisfied-ish with the spade-shape. (...It became really clear to me while I was doing this that I really, really don't know anything about crocheting. I've learned how to follow a pattern in the round, but I was a lot more confused by the idea of making wing and tail shapes not in the round. And I couldn't consult my mom for help!) The arms went through about three permutations (two different crocheted ones, which were way too clunky; one inadvisably involving pipe cleaners...) before I gave up and made some more polymer clay pieces (these hilarious little stalks with claws on the ends), sewed them in, and wrapped them in yarn.

He was definitely a challenge, and involved lots of sewing, which I was somehow able to be patient with. Probably just because I was so thrilled to be making something so absurd. He's stuffed with fiberfill and a rock, since all the clay stuff made him too front-heavy to sit straight with just fiberfill.

My favourite feature[s] are his talons, which were an awesome surprise---when I finally finished the assembly and sat him in my palm, the talons actually poked at me vaguely, like I was holding a hamster or something.